PTSD

New Year(s), New Lessons, New Earth, Part I

Things learnt on Friday

1. People have a different conception of time than I do. I found this out when, after about an hour and a half of discussion about what I should do to "fix" my proposal, I was told "It'll take about an hour". It ended up taking about 8 hours. My bum is still in protest after having to sit on the same chair for said amount of hours.

2. If you stay at the PhD office at TUWSNBN till early morning, it's best to have some beers in hand to ward off the (increasingly) strong feeling (gets stronger as it gets later) that the place is haunted. I could hear footsteps walking past, especially around midnight. After looking around the office for things to be used as stakes (nothing useful except books, though I suppose being hit by a combination of Tilly/Dewey/rather large survey that's been sitting in the office since E and I started Uni might have made the ghost think twice about entering?)

So, on towards Saturday. After getting a few hours of sleep and finally sending off proposal to powers-that-are, I ended up leaving for the Nepali New Year gig in the Outback of Virginia. I had to ditch dancing lessons and Thai food as it was physically impossible to be at two places at the same time. Lessons from Saturday:

1. It's best not to tell folk, especially those whom you don't know and who ask why you're "still studying" that you are planning to spend the rest of your life without a "proper job", hanging out at Unis. This does not go down well. Also, the "But, what about marriage?" question should never be answered by "Oh, I did that in Tahiti when I was 21--I didn't like him so left him there" comment or the "I rather think Draupadi (mythical woman who had five husbands, all at the same time) had a good idea" comment. People tend to take things seriously and this leads to trouble from family (Uncle and Aunt who had to go around "fixing" my stories).

2. Being banished to look after a 2-year old is actually heaps of fun. I think it helped that the kid, despite an abundance of long curls and a lamentable tendency to whine, had a large vocabulary and was easily influenceable. By the end of the day, I'd managed to convince him, who'd refused to go anywhere near bugs at the start of the day, to pick up and try to eat a cricket. Socialisation into being aware of and interested in invertebrates, is how I put it. His Mum appeared to take a different view. Another things was, despite their fairly small appearance, two-year olds are bloody heavy to lug around--I have even more appreciation for my parents after just one day of (sporadic) kid-carrying. I suppose nannies are out of the question if/when I have a one? I have yet to hear of nanny-affording academics (but I live in hope).

3. Nepali food does not improve upon acquaintance. I guess it's because all the good stuff (Tama--fermented bamboo shoots, cooked with lots of chilli; masyaura--a type of dried lentil/veggie combo, which requires a lot of time to make; gundruk--green leaves and shoots buried in the ground and then brought out, after they have rotted and fermented, to be dried and then cooked) are not easily available in Washington. Dinner on Saturday consisted of rice, black lentils (not with the butter and spices, like the Indian version but the "proper" Nepali way--i.e. bland), cauliflower with potatoes (staple winter diet), spinach, and chick pea soup (another staple). PTSD readers are probably aware of the lack of "authentic" Nepali desserts. My New Year's dessert was tiramisu. Apparently, Marco Polo nicked the idea from the Nepalis years ago, so tiramisu is really Nepali.

I will have to write the lessons of Sunday in my next post, including issues of Middle (and New) Earths (or, maybe E will write about it, since she was there too).

Let me leave you with a short trailer (of quotes in which one or both of PTSD members were involved)...

While playing a board game: You traitor! You Benedict Anderson!!

Another TUWSNBN student: What d'you mean you've never watched The Greatest American Hero, you've lost your British Commonwealth background! (not that one ever had that, as both PTSD folks are from non-Commonwealth countries)

When examining a strange-looking cake: But, it's so pink

From a fellow TUWSNBN student: You have no family? I have plenty, take some of mine. Here, he (pointing to an older bloke whom one had not seen before) can be your uncle.

Various people at various times: Put the peeps (not the Sean Paul-type but pink and yellow duck-type. It took me a while to figure this out too) in the microwave and watch them burn explode!

You know you can run a car on this (about Everclear) and, finally,

We're such high-schoolers right now (while debating the merits or otherwise of the developments in the Doc's relationship with Rose)

posted by Priya @ 10:23 PM